Former striker of the Uzbekistan national team, Server Jeparov, sharply criticized the performance of the Uzbekistan national team at the 2026 World Cup. In his opinion, the team lacked experience in major international tournaments, and the biggest issue was evident in the culture of playing with the ball. He spoke about this in an interview with the publication "Sports24.kz."
Jeparov noted that since this was the Uzbekistan national team's first World Cup, the lack of experience is natural. In his view, the national teams of Colombia and Portugal were far superior to the Uzbek players, but the match against the Democratic Republic of Congo could have had a different outcome.
"We need to learn to play football with the ball. Football is played with the ball. But in all three matches, we acted almost without the ball. This is an unacceptable situation for Uzbekistan. We must possess the ball, control the game. That is our strength," he says.
The former footballer also criticized the team's efforts in organizing attacks. According to him, just kicking the ball forward after winning it back does not meet the demands of modern football.
"Defending is an important part of the game. However, after regaining the ball, how to use it is also tactically significant. Match statistics showed that our team mostly played without the ball. Currently, we have only three players playing in strong European leagues, and that is very few. We must draw the right conclusions and develop a strategy spanning four to eight years to prepare competitively for future World Cups. Most importantly, we must achieve not just participation in the next World Cups, but also deliver a worthy performance," Jeparov says.
